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European Council on Tourism and Trade (ECTT) is the leading world and regional tourism organization representing a market of 800 millions costumers from all around Europe with members and delegations in 28 countries.

12/08/2014

I AM FULL OF PRIDE FOR ECTT-EUROPEAN COUNCIL ON TOURISM AND TRADE-WORLD BEST TOURIST DESTINATION AWARD FOR ZIMBABWE

H.E. President of the Republic of Zimbabwe-Robert Gabriel Mugabe, the african liberation lofty personality, has presented the official acceptance speech on behalf of people and government of Zimbabwe for the WORLD BEST TOURIST DESTINATION AND FAVORITE CULTURAL DESTINATION awards for the country.

This is the text of this inspiring speech presented by the most famous leader of Africa of today:

I want I thank for this event to: The Honorable Vice-President Joice Mujuru

The Speaker of the House of Assembly and advocate Jacob Mudenda,

The Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Industry comrade Walter Mzembi and all ministers here present,

Foremost to The President of European Council on Tourism and Trade, Professor Dr. Anton Caragea and all members of his delegation,

I'm pleased though not surprised at all that the European Council on Tourism and Trade had seen fit to give the awards for the BEST TOURIST DESTINATION for 2014 and the distinction for FAVORITE CULTURAL DESTINTION for 2014 to Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe's is indeed endowed with bountiful natural resources and rich cultural history

In addition our country is adjudged by relevant experts to poses the best climate in the word making it: an attracting tourism destination all year around

All thou like anyone else we can experience dramatic climate conditions, the impact on us is not that devastating , Zimbabwe can conform his reputation as an ideal tourism destination, but destinations might be mere geographical entities, it have to be destinations with people, and it is the people that are making destination to worth the talk, and is therefore the people of Zimbabwe we should be praised for the destination to be as warm as is proofed to be, Zimbabwe together with many other countries in southern Africa has succeeded to preserved much of his natural biodiversity in both flora and fauna, indeed we are home to some of the

Of the most sought after and rare animals in the world, including the big five: the elephant- huge, the lion- feroces, the rhino-quiet, but harmful, the leopard-there is stealthy but also blood thirsty and buffalo.

Of all this, the one we say is the most friendly maybe the buffalo, it is the only one of them but it is just one but the others do not provide the thing that we want to eat. I don’t know if the lion is eatable, less still do I know if the rhino or leopard are eatable anywhere but the elephant is, I did not tasted before I was in the prison where they serve us with elephant meet, it but I can tell you that I never like it I never tasted it after prison. I was afraid and who could not be afraid to eat the elephant ?

Who would obviously not be frighten to eat the elephant?

I am indeed proud that the iconic physical tourist attraction that we have in the country that include: Victoria Falls, the Eastern Highlands, the Mana Pools and off course the Exfoliated Hills in Manicaland, all must have influence the European Council on Tourism and Trade to select out of 27 nominated country to select Zimbabwe as the winner of the BEST DESTINATION AWARD.

It is our capacity to give tourists from all the corners of the world access to all our country natural features, the opportunity for tourists to explore nature in his ecological environment, must have strongly contributed to ECTT decision to grant us the awards that we just received today.

Ladies and Gentleman’s

While our country rich historical and cultural legacy has caught the et ye of ECTT, the venerable Great Zimbabwe, a fortified palatial complex that must have being build in 12 century, must played his part , the Great Zimbabwe from whom our great country is deriving his name is offering a rare insight into one of the greatest pre-colonial civilization of Africa and indeed a rare window into centuries of traditions.

Indeed countrymen, the winning of this award should must be a wakeup call to many, to realize the many historical treasures that we own.

How many of us are aware of the many historical treasure that we own ?

How many are aware that our national monuments in Manicaland are dating back from stone age period ?

Many of this natural sites, that are now on the list of UNESCO human heritage site, can and should be leveraged, to attract international visitors to Zimbabwe

I believe is equally important for our people both children and adults to know and visit this site, yes we can share them with world and can be said that that we hold them entrust for humanity , but they remain first and foremost our own, they defined our zimbabweness cultural diversity.

Cultural diversity in way of life and way of life showing itself in our interaction, marriages but much, much more pleasantly in song and dance and you heard today that diversity coming out from Reverend Damasani poetic rendering.

A gifted man indeed!

O gifted musician, but a gifted moralist, man of prayer, man of God,

We need to be thoroughly familiar with them and be proud with them. Some time I think that Zimbabweans are not knowing their country endowment, beside mineral gold, and precious stones, perhaps Ministry of Tourism and Hospitality should launch a know your Zimbabwe! , know yourself campaign!

To facilitate, to know our country.

I must pay a tribute to this young person they call Minister Mzembi, now the only surviving minister of tourism in Africa, or in the world, so he says

I rate him as one of my best ministers.

Foresight, full of brilliant ideas that are not remaining just in the mind, they take the form of action and practice.

Yes, he has gallivanted the world: East, West, North South, but every step he took, was to make better know Zimbabwe, two make the people better know, to make the reaches of Zimbabwe better known.

We still have so many not unknown, some of them where known and dig out, but thanks God we still have them and we start to discovering them for ourselves.

Let the world to know us and to know us fully: that we are a peaceful people but a proud people as well, and when it comes about natural resources s committed to be their owners, jealous of them.

Fighters against imperialism and colonialism because it wants to displace us, as in deed they have displaced us for nearly a century, and we are owners and in possession of our wealth.

A wealth that we discovered !

Even our past was sometime ugly, difficult for our ancestors, but let it be know our immediate past even as well as our contemporary history.

Is in this context that we emphasize the importance of our history of liberating Zimbabwe from colonial bondage and it is in this context that we want to emphasize the importance of writing the history because was not just the liberation of the people but the liberation of a people and their resources and their the tourist attraction as well.

Must people commemorate the major historical wars going back to centuries, our war of liberation was, only yesterday, comparatively specking, we should not risk erase it from our memories

But we should preserved our pride history

We won a great war the often pitted poorly armed, often shoeless peasants against experienced, well armed, ruffles mercenaries, but we won it, against all odds.

It was a people war, not just a ZANU ZAPU ZAMPLA ZIBRA war. No!

Those where fronts, fronts of the people of Zimbabwe in their diversity and thus where fronts of determined people, determined to fight for our people, their people, our people.

We should never forget our people together, whatever their cultural believes religious, cultural, political, they are our people and hence the need for the unity of our people, unity in diversity,

We need to enshrined all location of majors battles indeed and grow them into iconic attractions, that our visitors and our posterity will visit and value them for all time.

They become visiting places, tourist attraction.

They will naturally evoke memories, but they should never, even if they made us angry sometimes, they should never make us to want to fight again, but should make us to be always ready against the enemy, against thus who want to pull the same trick already that they put against us in 1890 lasting up to 1980 we say No. Never again!

Ladies and gentlemen, comrades and friends, President of the European Council on Tourism and Trade.

Let me conclude by saying:

Thank you to you to European Council on Tourism and Trade-ECTT for these awards

We should thank you for your magnanimity, I say magnanimity because at this juncture, during this time, at this time.

When others are thinking at punishing us more, you are thinking of making us more a friend than enemy. We are thanking you; we are exuding with friendship and love for others who equally may exude with love and friendship to us.

It is that interaction of love, love of nations, and love of people that we in Zimbabwe we want to work for.

Let me conclude by saying that I ‘am greatly enthusiastic and appreciative and full of pride for all the decision taken by European Council on Tourism and Trade (ECTT) to give this awards to Zimbabwe.

If the countries that have win these awards in the past are anything to go by, the European Council on Tourism and Trade has a very powerful and transparent desire to draw all the world's attention to the tourism potential in developing countries

Thank you for that

This award is having the effect of putting the winner under the global limelight and I want to say that we have this limelight, thanks to the European Council on Tourism and Trade (ECTT) and thanks to you the Zimbabweans for demonstrating that you love others in the world.

We are now in the global limelight!

I want to promise to the European Council on Tourism and Trade that we shall continue to increase our efforts to leverage the potential that you have identified in us and always make Zimbabwe a preferred tourist destination in the world, a people loving people’s destination.

And I want to assure you that this is what are we working for: peace and harmony in Zimbabwe, peace and harmony in the region, and peace and harmony in the world

I want to say once again thank you to European Council on Tourism and Trade for these awards, we shell treasure them for all time.